by Raylan Kane
CHAPTER EIGHTY
I wake up lying next to a log covered with moss – blue moonlight shines from above, obviously simulated – I look up and can see stars through tree branches. Trees surround me; I stand up and brush pine needles off. I can hear a brook trickle nearby; this is Biodome 3. I don’t know the layout of this place at all – I’m not even aware of its size - though from what I hear this place is massive. I cannot get over how much it feels like I am in a real forest. Like the hay field to which I am assigned. The clocks on the ship run on Sydin time – I’m in simulated Full Dark; the shadows under thickets of trees grow darker. I must watch where I walk, even the ground in the Biodome is bumpy and full of tree roots, rocks and stumps. I don’t know where the exits in this place are – I also wonder how I got here – or better yet why though I suspect the Captain and his Commander have something to do with it. Someone runs in the distance behind me. Thumping footsteps on dirt in quick succession grow closer; brush crackles under foot. I hear Rygart’s voice.
“Our friend is awake. He's moved. I don’t see him over here.”
I scramble behind a large oak and crouch down. I peak around and see Rygart standing about 20 feet off. I hear another set of footsteps – Marek steps into view.
“What do you think?” Marek said.
“Keep going in this direction.”
“Oh, hang on – this is central-west – yes, we dropped him not far from here.”
Both men turn to look in the opposite direction. They’re both armed with rifles. I stand up keeping my weight on my toes. I put my back to the trunk of the tree and edge my eye around to have another look.
“Right there! Got him!”
Curses. I burst through shrubs and thick brush. My feet barely touch the ground. I jump fallen logs and tangles of branches whip against my face and arms as I sprint through the forest.
“You got him?” Rygart says yelling.
“Almost! Go!”
My adrenaline soars – I jump right and stop – Marek thunders toward me, I jump from behind the tree and plant my shoulder in his stomach. I pump and push with my legs and run forward until the big man falls to his back with me on top of him.
“He’s here!” Marek says.
I jump up and run back in the direction I was headed. I can no longer hear anyone running behind me. A blast of energy pulsates by me and explodes a tree only 10 feet away.
“Come on!” Marek said. “I see him!”
I jump to my feet again and run. Another blast sends chunks of wood scattering close by. I do not look back. Up ahead the moonlight ends – there is nothing but a wall of blackness. What is that?
“Almost to him!” Marek says. “Rygart!”
I’m at a corner in this place. Two huge walls meet here. On my left is a large object jutting out of the wall – in this light I cannot tell what it is. Marek steps from the shadows in front of me with his rifle aimed. Rygart runs up behind him. I am trapped.
“Quite a neat trick you pulled back there,” Marek said.
“What’s the hay farmer going to do now?” Rygart said. "Anything else up your sleeve?"
“Look – can we just get this over with – you want to kill me, that's obvious – so, kill me.”
“That’s exactly what we’re going to do,” Rygart said. “But of course we have to make it fun, right?”
“You drop that gun I’ll make it fun enough for you,” I said.
Rygart drops his rifle to the ground and steps toward me. Marek smiles and drops his weapon as well. The two men walk forward, I crouch into a fighting stance. Marek hollers and the gross snapping of bone and cartilage echoes as the man grows in size. I hate to admit it, but running from here might be my only chance. I see an opening along the wall on my right – Rygart could be distracted by Marek’s transformation. I spring forward with everything I have – Rygart darts toward me; we collide as he forces me back into the wall. My back slams into that object protruding from the wall, I scream in pain. A buzzer sounds overhead and a red light shines down on us.
“What have you done?” Marek says.
The ground shakes beneath our feet. Rygart has hold of my collar when a huge door opens to my left and an enormous stampede of naked clones floods through the opening. Hundreds of clones yelling and jumping and running storm through into the Biodome. Rygart and Marek are caught in the human tide and disappear into the masses.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE
The walls that separate the Harvest Bloc and Biodome 3 are gone as are the walls that separate both areas from one of the Holocene’s main corridors. I walk down the middle of a huge swath of flattened vegetation. The lights from the corridor ahead of me guide me. Look what these two children in command have done – they’re responsible for unleashing an army of hundreds if not thousands of naked clones, rampaging their way through key areas of our ship.
My feet are knocked from under me. A massive quake and a booming sound rumbles. I hear that sickly sound of metal groaning and twisting and bending somewhere above me. If this roof over the Biodome goes, not only would I be killed instantly it could jeopardize the entire ship. Milne. I need to get to her. An emergency siren blares from all directions – a soothing voice repeats its unsoothing message: “Warning Warning Warning Warning Warning”.
Another humongous jolt – an explosion – everything goes dark. There are no lights – no sirens – no voice. I float off the ground – broken limbs and logs and other detritus levitate with me. I can see the outline of objects under the stars through the windowed ceiling. I need to get to the corridor and get down to my level. Milne might be at my quarters. Trident will know to get to his emergency pod. Without gravity I cannot move – Milne and Trident might be better off in a confined space – with ways to push their way around. The ship comes back to life I fall back to the ground along with everything else. I run to the corridor while I still can.
People run around screaming through the hall. Another explosion somewhere below; two wires jut from a broken wall panel ahead, their ends connect on and off showering sparks to the floor. I dodge by the wires and predictably the elevator is down. I run to the red hatch at the end of the corridor. I kick at the red door revealing a ladder that extends above and below. I hear screams as people run in my direction. I get on the ladder and climb down.
She has to be there – my quarters – she knows my code – she’ll be in there waiting for me. The ladder chute is rectangular and it seems bottomless as I look down – my palms are sweaty, I must concentrate on each rung – there is plenty of room between me and the wall behind me I could fall from this thing very easily. Each level is marked with a number painted in white – only 20 to go. Above me others have joined in the climb down – I am moving at a faster pace. There is a lot of yelling up there – some people move faster than others.
The ship shakes violently – my hands slip from the rung – I fall. The Holocene lists onto its side and the wall behind me turns into a floor catching me from my fall. A mister looks down at me from the ladder above. His feet hang down a foot above me – the ladder climb down has turned into a horizontal climb.
“You are lucky,” he said.
“Tell me about it.”
“You need to get back up here in case the ship rights itself.” The man releases his hands from the rung above and reaches toward me. “Grab my hand – I will help you.”
“You’re not strong enough to pull me up.”
“You want to take that gamble? At least grab hold of my legs – you’re going to fall.”
“Thanks for the offer,” I said.
“Hey, what are you doing?” The man said. “Are you crazy?”
I take off running along the wall/floor. I have to take advantage of the ladder chute sitting horizontal at the moment. As soon as it turns vertical though, I'd better be back on that ladder. Don’t move ship – don’t move. Only ten levels to go – eight – seven – the surface below shudders beneath my feet �
�� no! The ship begins to right itself – curses! My legs are propelled forward so fast I can barely keep my balance running down a steep slope – running – running – steeper. I fall.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO
The lights go out; weightlessness breaks my fall. Saved by the loss of gravity. I reach for the ladder in the darkness. I wrap my fingers around the smooth steel and pull myself upward feeling for a hatch door. I hear screams above me.
“Hey! Hello?”
“Hello!” A voice yells back to me not too far above me.
“Hi – do you know what level you were at when the lights went out?”
“No.”
I keep feeling my way upward with a tight grip on the ladder in case the ship’s power kicks in again. The ship turns again I can feel the ladder tilt away from me. I am upside down. The ladder chute fills with screams as the giant spacecraft shudders and a deep, low yet pervasive moan rises.
“What is that?” A voice says. “Are we falling?”
“It sounds like it.”
The ship's moan rises in tone gradually - building toward a crescendo reached likely when we hit terminal velocity in our fall.
The ladder pulls away again I tighten my grip again.
“Does this mean we’re within the gravit-“
The lights flip back on to reveal that we’re in a rapid spin. My entire body tenses as I fight to keep hold of the ladder. My stomach is in knots. Bodies start falling. I pull hard at the rungs to flatten myself as much as possible as the chute becomes a death shaft – hollering misses and misters hurtle past me along with objects and globs of spit and vomit. Concentrate. There’s a red hatch door above me. The spinning is too much – I throw up as the ship spins faster around – the vomit hits my ankle.
I am almost at the hatch door. The painted number confirms it’s my level. I grab the door and pull myself through. I land flat on the floor and see people ahead of me sitting, their bodies slide and shift from wall to wall as the Holocene spins. I stand and try to run to my quarters I fall again and again. I get up and make more progress. I reach my room, I punch in my code – and she’s not there.
“Milne! Milne?”
I fall out into the corridor. The ship’s moan grows louder. Things shake all around more vigorously – we’re falling faster – the planet has us in its gravitational pull. The lights go off again; everything that isn’t bolted down floats. I drift against one wall.
“Why haven’t they regained control of the ship by now?” A miss says in the dark.
“Too much damage probably.”
“That’s what the automated backups were built for.”
“I don’t know. Obviously they’re not working.”
“What are we going to do?”
“Get to your pod.”
“How?” She said.
“Find a way.”
CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE
Milne’s living quarters are six levels below mine. I hate the idea of climbing back into that death shaft full of screaming people, but I have to find her. I push off the edge of my door frame and grab for edgings and anything that juts out into the corridor to guide me along to the end of the hall. My hands land flat against the end wall. I dig my fingers under a circuit box to maneuver myself down to the hatch entrance. I pry open the door and grab the ladder. Before I am able to pull my body through to the ladder chute I feel metal clunk around my right wrist.
I hadn’t noticed them – behind me is a line of people holding soft glowing lights – they appear to be wearing uniforms. The mister closest to me reaches out and cuffs me to him. He is cuffed to a chain that extends to everyone floating behind me in the corridor.
“What are you doing?”
“We’re taking everyone to their pods. Let go of the ladder.”
“Wait. Take this off. I need to find someone first.”
“Negative. You are to be brought to your pod – Captain’s orders.”
“No! Let me out of this thing!”
“Sir, calm down. The Holocene is lost. We have less than an hour until contact with the surface of the planet. You’re coming with us.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Sir?” The uniformed mister looks back to a superior who floats up to us holding a light.
“What’s the problem here?”
“This one won’t let go of the ladder.”
“Don’t be afraid mister. We’re just taking you to your pod,” the superior says.
“I’m not afraid. I’m just not going with you.”
“Captain Marek has ordered all inhabitants be collected and taken to their pods.”
“I don’t care what Captain Marek ordered – I have someone I need to find – now get this handcuff off of me.”
“Whoever you’re looking for has likely already been collected and taken to their pod. You are wasting time – now, you either let go of that ladder or we’re going to have a problem.”
“I’m not letting go.”
“Okay – have it your way,” the superior said. He looks to the mister that cuffed me, “do it.” The mister nods and pulls a device from his belt – he aims it toward me – WHOA! Electrical charges flowed through my body – the pain! My body fell limp – my hand came off the ladder. Screams emanate from the ladder chute as I am pulled away from the hatch door, the last in a line of dozens of cuffed people being taken to the emergency pods.
“You realize you probably just shocked a lot of people that were on that ladder,” I said shouting at the mister ahead of me. He ignores my comment.
The line of chained people swims through the corridor to the other end where we enter another ladder chute. Personnel with their soft glow lights swim through the air alongside us – tethered by longer chains, touching and navigating around doorways and edges. I float at the rear pushing and touching walls with my hands and feet to protect myself as we round corners and move through different areas.
The residents on my level and me are brought into our pod bay. One by one the uniformed misses and misters release people from the cuffs and secure them into their emergency pods. Each pod has a reclined seat inside, long enough for your legs to stretch out in front of you. They sit the person inside and close the flip lid down – the lid secures in place with a great snapping noise. The uniformed people push a big button on the top of the lid and the pod whirrs to life.
My turn – a mister works his way down the chain to me – hooks his foot into the front end of a pod below us and pulls me down toward it.
“You’re not going to try and get away right?”
“No,” I said.
“Wait,” another uniformed mister – the one who originally cuffed me floats over. “This one might cause trouble, I’ll help you.”
“Thanks.”
The two men hold my arms and release me from the cuff and push me down into my seat. I notice the first people to go into their pods haven’t been released yet out into open space, away from the ship.
“Why haven’t those pods left yet?” I said to one of the misters as he holds me while the other fastens me in.
“Were you not paying attention at orientation? The pods don’t eject.”
“They don’t?”
“No – the ship was built to largely break apart on impact – the pods are made to survive the impact not eject into space and fall on their own.”
“How do you we survive impact?”
“The pod fills with gel – you’ll see.”
“What – fills with gel – this thing?”
“Relax – we’ll see you on the surface.”
“Wait!”
The pod fills with gel? With me in it? I try to push myself out of this thing. The men flip the lid down over me – my heart sinks at the sound of the secure snap.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR
“Emergency sequence activated. Stand by,” the smooth yet terrifying computer voice repeats this line twice. My mouth i
s dry; I swallow the lump in my throat. Two nozzles on either side of my face above me mist some kind of liquid into the pod. I cough – the mist smells like yellow fruit.
“Emergency sequence activated. Stand by. 20 minutes to impact.”
“Emergency sequence activated. Stand by. 15 minutes to impact.”
I feel drowsy – my head is heavy. A blue light shines down from the lid – great, so I can watch myself become a bloody garbled mess when we crash.
“Emergency sequence activated. 10 minutes to impact.”
Am I supposed to be sleeping because if so the mist didn’t work on me – all it’s done is given me a headache. What is the emergency sequence? What is this gel they spoke of?
“Emergency sequence activated. 8 minutes to impact.”
Whatever you’re supposed to be doing pod – do it!
“Emergency sequence activated. 6 minutes to impact.”
Is this thing malfunctioning?
A feeling of warmth envelopes my feet – a nice feeling. The warmth spreads over my shins to my knees. I can see in the light now, this pasty gel substance rises past my knees. My thighs disappear.
“Emergency sequence activated. 4 minutes to impact.”
My feet come off the floor of the pod, my legs float free – the gel rises past my belly button. This isn’t going over my head right? It stops at my head – it must – what sense would it make to drown me in this thing? I don’t even know what this gel substance is.
The gel rises to my chest I can feel my body lift from the floor of the pod. The gel keeps rising. Relax. Breathe. Okay it’s getting closer to my chin than I’d like. Relax. Curses this is not stopping. The gel touches my chin creeps up my jaw line. Stop!
“Emergency sequence activated. 2 minutes to impact.”
I can hear the sounds of destruction outside my pod – crashing and banging – things falling apart. The gel is over my mouth! I breathe hard through my nose – I take in an enormous breath – the gel passes over my face and over the top of my head completely filling the pod.
